MISSING MT CERMAI MOUNTAINEERS FOUND ALIVE

Kuningan, W Java, Jan 4 (ANTARA) - Five mountaineers who were on Saturday (January 2) reported missing were on Monday morning (Jan 4) found alive at the top of Mount Ceremai by a rescue team.

Of the five mountaineers who were found at an altitude of 2,500 meters above sea level , four were suffering from the cold and one was in good shape, said Suyatno, chief of the Cirebon SAR (search and rescue) monitoring post.

The mountaineers who left Gempol village, Cirebon disrtict on Thursday (Dec 31,2009) consisted of Maskon (24), Revelation (15), Mohammad Nur (23), Budiman (29) and Mila (19).

The SAR team found the five mountaineers at about 10:30 pm and would evacuate them in about seven hours' time by using the Ceremai Mountain National Park post track in Linggarjati.

"They were found near the mountain's toxic crater," Suyanto said.

It was earlier reported the five mountaineers had used an unofficial hiking track and they did not report to any of the monitoring posts around the mountain, and this had made the search for them more difficult for the SAR team.

The five mountaineers lost their bearings because of bad weather and they did carry enough food and medical logistics, Suyanto said.